Attorney Joe Serpa has defended criminal cases in the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court since 1995. These posts cover Massachusetts criminal law as it is practiced. Mr. Serpa explains statutes, case law, court-by-court procedure, and how charges are defended and resolved. These pages are written for defendants, licensed professionals, students, tradespeople, and non-citizens who need to understand what a Massachusetts criminal charge means and what the defense options are.
By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 A Massachusetts show cause notice means that someone has applied for a criminal complaint and the court has scheduled a clerk-magistrate hearing. The notice is not an arrest warrant, a conviction, or a criminal complaint. It is an opportunity to…
Continue reading ›Learn what follows a Massachusetts OUI arrest, including breath-test and refusal rules, RMV deadlines, arraignment, Section 24D, and license relief.
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 I maintain a record of not guilty verdicts in OUI jury trials in the Massachusetts District Courts and Boston Municipal Court. I built that record since 1995 in courtrooms across Eastern Massachusetts. In this post I explain how Massachusetts OUI…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 Prepared by Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 | Serpa Law Office, Boston and Quincy | Last Reviewed: August 2026 A Massachusetts domestic violence case begins with a criminal allegation, but it…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 August 2026 A judge issues a harassment restraining order (harassment prevention order) under G.L. c. 258E only on proof of a specific statutory definition of harassment. The Appeals Court has said outright that the statutory definition is much more exacting…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 In 2025 and 2026, the enforcement environment for non-citizens in Massachusetts changed profoundly. Federal immigration enforcement intensified nationally, SEVIS terminations for international students accelerated, and the State Department began revoking visas after criminal arrests far more aggressively. A non-citizen who…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 An arrest in Massachusetts begins a fast sequence of police and court proceedings. Police first complete booking and must have an on-call court clerk make the initial bail determination. At the court's next session, arraignment occurs and a judge considers…
Continue reading ›When Massachusetts law enforcement seizes a digital device and asks for the passcode, many people comply out of panic, a wish to appear cooperative, or a belief that refusing will look like guilt. That choice has consequences, and the law governing it is more precise than most summaries suggest. Three situations are frequently run together,…
Continue reading ›By Attorney Joe Serpa | Georgetown University Law Center | Massachusetts Criminal Defense Since 1995 June 2026. Updated July 2026 for the Supreme Court’s geofence ruling in Chatrie v. United States. A Massachusetts search warrant for a digital device, whether a smartphone, laptop, tablet, or cloud storage account, is not a general license to search…
Continue reading ›A practical guide to Massachusetts criminal traffic citations, the four-day clerk-hearing request, mailed citations, citation defenses, and case preparation.
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